Café de Nuit

My wife and I are selling our house and I do not have the same kind of time I used to for creating my own homemade adventures. Since this is the case, I've decided to pull out some of my very old 2nd Edition Ravenloft premade adventures and convert them for Pathfinder.

For the most part, its fairly simple. Take their monsters' concepts, open HeroLab, make them fit Pathfinder. I use things like the old THAC0 to figure a rough estimate of what their attack bonuses should be, and so forth.

The current quest their on involves tracking down a Golem-Creator, Emil Bollenbach, who has kidnapped Rudolph van Richten because he wants to put van Richten's brain into a "Super Flesh Golem". He wants to do this in order to continue his mad dream of ridding the world of golems. Naturally, he's completely insane and has not realized that by creating his own golems, he's only adding to the problem he sees with the world. I guess in twisted logic, he feels that if he's successful creating his "Super Flesh Golem", he'll be able to destroy all the golems, including those he made himself. The adventure is called "Surgeon's Blade" and extremely fun, if anybody wants to check it out. It's part of a a book of group of standalone adventures featuring van Richten called Chilling Tales, and available on Amazon.

Anyway, here's what I'd like to know. In 2nd Edition Ravenloft, Emil Bollenbach is listed as a Madman. There's absolutely no conversion for the class for Pathfinder, so I'd like to know which would you think is the best choice to make this insane golem-creator?

• Wizard? If so, which specialty school?
• Sorcerer? If so, which bloodline?
• Cleric w/ Artifice Domain (or another domain)?
• Artificer from Eberron?
• Other choice?
• How about any Prestige Classes that I should consider as well?

By the way, 5 of the 7 PCs are 11th level, the other 2 are 10th. I'd like to make Emil around 12-14th Level so their final encounter with him and his lackeys be challenging, but not impossible.

Thanks a lot! Looking forward to hearing back from you guys! I know I can count on you gals/guys!

In pathfinder, I'd probably go with Alchemist for Emil. That lets him get access to the Craft Construct feat without making him a real "spellcaster". I can certainly see him brewing up alchemical potions and tossing bombs.

But alternatively, since this is Ravenloft, you could make him an expert (or pick an appropriate Rogue archetype) and just let him build golems via obsession, without the feat.

What type of golem are you kind of focusing on, or is it just in general? Sometimes the more undeadish ones can be ridiculous when you throw around Pale Master and oddball things like that. If it's along those lines I can drop a line to my friend known for making the most broken normal undead I know of and see what he thinks.

The best class to make golems is the Wizard, hands-down. No specialization. (Although if you absolutely must specialize, then Transmutation has more spells for golem-crafting than any other, I think.)

That being said, I don't know the module in question, so I can't vouch for whether or not Wizard would make a good substitute for Emil's class.

Yeah, the thing is there's nothing to indicate Emil is a spellcaster. He's a typical mad scientist, of the flesh-crafting variety. You could use wizard stats and do the old "it's not really magic, it's science" shtick, but alchemist seems a better fit to me, since it has that built in.

I'm sure there is a prestige class somewhere in Forgotten Realms material for specializing in golems. I don't have my excel list handy that I made with all of the PRCs in it.

Resonant Curse wrote:What type of golem are you kind of focusing on, or is it just in general? Sometimes the more undeadish ones can be ridiculous when you throw around Pale Master and oddball things like that.

The pale master works with incorporeal undead; they don't have anything to offer the bone and zombie golems. Even a true necromancer wouldn't be any better. Constructs don't work the same as undead, even the ones that are empowered by necromancy.

Sounds like a golem of obsession then. If thats the case then all he needs to worry about is the material assembly costs and the construction of the golem. He could be simply an expert with an obsession to build and work to defy golems fueled by a delusion. Really just give him the appropriate madness effects or others to show his insanity.

If you need to add crunch or want it to be more involved than that, then just give him the ability like an artificer to emulate spells for crafting. I plan to release my artificer pathfinder adapted class soon for my own pathfinder thread.

But realistically artificer, wizard, alchemist or simply expert can all build golems in Ravenloft. If you alter the fluff to them doing mundanely things to mimic certain spells through some odd ritual or uses a scroll with the spell as he does not know magic. Perhaps stopping him from getting such scrolls or other items or aid is how you can use him. He could be going to someone for the spells he needs.

Isn't Emil Bollenbach mentioned in the 3e RL line somewhere? Putting his name in the thread title will probably get you more responses...

The Giamarga wrote:Isn't Emil Bollenbach mentioned in the 3e RL line somewhere?

You'd think so, wouldn't you? According to his Mistipedia page, no, but it's possible he's in one of the products that never made it into the RL catalogue (and hence, might not be noted in Misitpedia). Even so, PF has a lot of options 3e didn't (like the Alchemist), so even if he's got a class there, there might be better options. (like I said, I like alchemist, but YMMV). Upon further reflection, a golem of obsession is fine for a one-shot success like Adam or Gestalt, but Emil's made a career out of it. He really ought to have the Craft Construct feat, IMHO.

It's hard to justify the dark powers stepping in so often to assist and not saying, "Just pick a PC class already, Emil! We've got other things to do, you know! "

Forum search for turns up mentions in Ryans timelines for Sodo and van Richten and this thread: Emil Bollenbach, help with life and times for the Mistipedia.

I agree that alchemist is the way to go though his origins as a student might suggest a slight multiclass perhaps. Chirurgeon and/or maybe the vivisectionist archetypes maybe?

Emil was featured in Shadow of the Knife, our unofficial sequel to Hour of the Knife.

In Pathfinder, yeah, for now I'd make Emil an alchemist of some stripe.